Archives for June 2016

Host Richard Hentschel discusses several areas in the home landscape. Lots of our annuals and newly planted perennials have not established the expected root systems with all the rain earlier and are looking a bit lackluster. Lawns have had mushrooms growing in them. This can be a natural event as the thatch layer decays. What also has been showing up are the mushrooms from decaying roots of the ash trees. Bagworms are active right now and while small, can be handpicked.

Richard Hentschel, host of Green Side Up discusses the severe decline of Austrian Pines due to the kind of weather we have had this spring. Diplodia tip blight favors stressed and older plants. The disease has gotten a lot stronger as trees have remained stressed since the drought of 2012. Treatments are available, yet trees will need 3 sprays each spring and good sanitation to help the pines recover.

Host Richard Hentschel discusses several insects currently in the home landscape. scale insects are active right now on several kinds of plants. The black sooty mold seen as a reslut of the sticky sap dripping down from the scale feeding. gall forming insects are also showing up as those galls have enlarged in size or a change in color is happening. Black Knot of plum is also been reported. Large swollen growth along the stems and branches has been apparent recently too.

Home Orchards can be very rewarding but take a lot of work, including a very routine schedule of sprays to protect the young developing fruits and leaves against both foliar and fruit diseases and insects that can damage our fruits and eat the leaves. Cedar Apple Rust and Apple scab are the two main diseases and insects like the Apple Maggot and Codling Moth. Most home orchardists with use a combination product containing control material for diseases and insects. Other tasks include doing any needed fruit thinning to allow fewer apples to mature. This also will promote annual flowering and bearing.

Dealing with our spring blooming bulbs the right way an be rewarding with better or more blooms in 2017. Foliage should be leaf intact until the bulb has naturally died down. If you are going to cut some foliage off, limit that to about 1/3 of the levels. Spring is also a great to time to feed your bulbs with mulches of organic matter. We should never tie or braid the leaves together. Bed layout will also help us to hide the fading leaves with plantings in front of the bulbs.